Hardness-testing machine



J. G. AYERS, JII.

HARDNESS TESTING `MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.3I, 1921.

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Il III '1. G. AYERS, 1R.

HARDNESS TESTING MACHINE.

. APPucAloN FILED MAR.31,1921.

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' against one atfa time by means ofthe supporting,

' mounted upon the Patented Sept. T9,- 1.922.

.To'sisuuV e.' AYERS, JR., or MONTOLAIR. NEW JERSEY, BEARING COMQANY, or HARRISON, NEW JERSEY,

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AssIeNoR 'ronza'r'r ROLLER 'A CORPORATION or NEW .TER-

HARnNEss-TESTING MAOHINE Application led March 31, 1921. Serial o. 457,493.

To all whom tmay concern:

Beit known that I, JOSEPH G. ArERs, Jr., a citizen of the. United States, residing at 41- Brunswick Road, Montclair, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain. new and useful lmprovements in Hardness-Testing Machines, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings forming a part of the same.

The object of this invention is to test the hardness of -metals by forcing a ball of given diameter into the metal under a standard impact and measuring the impression thus produced.

The so-called Brinell machine has been heretofore used in suc tests, with a'standard hydraulic pressure applied to the ball, and such machines are satisfactory under laboratory conditions wherey time is not so important a factor as accuracy. Thereare cases however where testing must be dono on a large commercialscale,` as in the acceptance of raw materials, and wherethe hardness variation permissible does not requiretests of laboratory accuracy.

In such cases the rapld and approximate determination of the hardness of thousands of pieces is more important and satisfactory than the extremely accurate testing of a few samples.

In the present inventionathe tests are made by employing a machine, thus securing an instantaneous result.

With the Brinell mechanism several seconds are required to bring the full load to bear upon the ball and test specimen, and several more seconds are used in maintaining this pressure, according to the best ractice; but the substitution of theimpact or the dead load enables the specimens to be tested as rapidly-y as they can be inserted in and removed from thel testing machine.

To hold the specimens firmly during the testing operation, .a screw-support base of the machine and adjustable vertically, and a clamping-arm or4 bracket-piece is projected from the col-5 umn of the machine over such support, which the specimens arepressed screw.

standard impact instead o fv the dead load used in an ordinary Brmell A rod is movable in the frame of the machine vertically above the screw-support and carries at its lower end a standard wei ht to which the ball is attached by a remova le holder. Such holders are made to clam balls of different sizes to the standar weight.

4It is evident thatthe different degrees of hardness mustbe expressed by some arbitrary symbol or scale which` Will indicate the relative hardness' of dii'erent specimens.

To obtain such a relation between the various indications which may be expressed inV a scaleI or table, necessitates the use of a constant weight descending through a unform space-and operating a ball of given diameter, and the machine therefore 1s intended to be adjusted for such standard operationv and requires no readjustment thereafter for tests based upon such adjustment. l

vThe use of a cam isv adapted to produce a repetition ofthe same movement, and a cam is therefore preferably in the resent construction to actuate the weighti'fting mechanism.

A beu-Crank 0r lever' is used to lift the weight and is operated by a rotatable cam. 1

A hand-wheel n is employed, with suitable caring, to lift the said weight by rotating t e cam, which operates upon the bell-crank land is adapted to instantly release the weight when elevated tothe standard height.

The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawing,in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine embody,- ing theinvention, with the nearer side of the supporting column broken away; shows the rear side of the column and camconnections Fig. 3 is a plan of the cam with the elevating lever-arm f in section above Athe roller nf; Fig. -45 shows the test-ball with a section of its holder and the weight whicvh carries it;.and Fig. 5, is a dia ram showing the releasejof the elevating ever from the cam.

A designates the base of the machine, `and. vB a post projected upwardly therefrom and Fig. 2v

just

formed with a gooseneck B at its upper end to. roject over the base.

' rod a is movable in bearings b upon the goose-neck and has the weight c secured to its lower end. The weight is made hollow to be loadedfwith granular metal to the de-` les ` the rod a.

A threaded column d is tted to a socket d in the base directly beneath the rod a, and is held from turning in the socket by a key or pin e fitted to aV groove in the side of the screw. A hand-wheel f has a threaded hub` f" fitted to turn upon the column while resting upon the top of the socket d.

A bracket-piece 7c is fitted adjustably upon the front of the post and secured rigidly in any required adjustment by clamp-bolts k. This bracket-piece is formed with a clamping-arm k2 which extends over the head of the screw-support, and operates as a gage to set the specimen 1 at the lower limit of the balls movement when the ball is pressed by the screw-support against such clampingarm.

The head g of the threaded column sustains the entire load while testing, such support being raised and lowered byy turning the hand-wheel f to clamp the specimens against the clamping-piece, and release them therefrom. l

A test-ball h is shown secured upon the bottom ofthe weight 0 by a ball-holder i which screws upon a nozzle onthe bottom of the weight, as shown in Fig. 3.

rlhe column is shown formed with side flanges which carry bearings for a shaft C upon which a cam'D is mounted.

A bell-crank lever is journaled upon a pivot E above the cam, its lower arm F extending past the inner side of the cam.

rlhe otherarm F is forked at its end which extends beneath a' collar G upon the rod a.

Fig. 1 shows the cam having a spiral periphery which bears upon a roller n. in the end of the -arm F and has a notch next to its highest point, into whichl the roller lmay drop when the bearing-surface of the cam passes the -roller ,'as shown in Fig. 5.

As the roller would not release the bellcrank instantly, l have provideda supplemental camlface D at one side of the cam D, and the arm F is provided with a shoulder i o at one side of the roller n to rest upon the cam-face D when the roller clears the highest point of the cam D. u

A Such shoulder andA supplemental cam-[face sustains the leverarm for amoment and then permit the instantaneous release of the bell-erank-which is facilitated by a spring g, as shown in Fig. 5. This ligure shows the relation of the shoulder o to the surface faceD.

of the-supplemental cam, the dotted line showing the shoulder o resting upon the corner ofthe cam just before its release andthe roll entirely clear from both the cam-faces D and D.' The weight C is supported wholly by the shoulder and the cam- This construction a'ords an instantanein the exact determination of the standard height through Which ,the `ball descends.

The camis rotated by reducing-gears m and a hand-wheel p, and each rotation of the cam serves to lift the weight to avpredetermined point and release it to descend by gravity. y

The spring g is applied to the bell-crank lever to retract, it quickly from the collar G when the shoulder 0l clears theI cam, thus facilitating the instant descent of the weight.

The clamping-arm has a perforation l in line with the ball-holder to permit lthe holder to press the test-ball upon the specimen. The under side of the clamping-arm thus forms the lower limit of the balls movement, the upper limit being determined by the adjustment of the cam to the weightlifting lever.

Fig. l shows the bracket-arm h2 in section with the ball and ball-holder in dotted lines ,partially indented. The ball-holder is con-` structed. to grip the ball a little below its greatest diameter, so as to press it against the end of the nozzle upon the weight 0.

It is thus held in connection with the weight,

while it is capable of making indentations with the greater part of its lower hemisphere. 4

Having thus set lforth the nature of the invention what is claimed herein is:

.1. An apparatus for testing the hardness of metallic specimens, consisting of the base with column projected upwardly therefrom, a threaded support mounted upon the base, a goose-neck projected over the support and provided with bearings, a rod movable through the bearings with a standard weight secured toits lower end, a test-ball secured to the lower end of the weight, means for lifting and dropping the rod and weight, and means for holding the specimens to be tested upon the threaded support.

2. An apparatus for testing the hardness of metallic specimens, consisting of the base with column projected upwardly therefrom, a threaded support mounted upon the base,

a goose-neck projected over the support and,

not

weight secured to its lower end, a test-ball secured to the lower end of the weight, means v for lifting and dropping the rod and weight,

and a bracket-piece secured adjustably upon `the column with clamping arm extended over the head of the threaded support to clamp the specimens thereon.

3. An apparatus for testing the hardness of metallic specimens, consisting of the base with column 'projected upwardly therefrom,

a threaded support mounted upon the base, a goose-neck projected over the support and provided With bearings, a rod movable through the bearings with a standard Weight secured to its lower end, a nozzle on the bottom of the Weight With a ball-holder screwed thereon and a test-ball clampedl rigidly to the Weight by said holder, and means for lifting the rod and Weight and dropping them upon the specimen.

4. An apparatus for testing the hardness of metallic specimens, consisting of a suitable frame, a threaded support fitted vertically adjustable in the bottom of the frame, a perforated clamping-piece held rigidly above the top of the support, means for adjusting the clamping-piece and securing it rigidly upon the column to determine the limit of. movement for the test-ball, a ballholder adapted to pass through the perforation in the clamping-piece to indent the specimen upon the screw-support, a Weight attached to the ball-holder, and means for raising the Weight and ball-holder to a standard height, and dropping them upon the specimens;

5. An apparatus for testing the hardness of metallic specimens, consisting of a suitable frame, a screw-support fitted vertically adjustable in the bottom of the frame, a perforated clamping-piece sustained above the top of the screw-support, a ball-holder adapted to pass through the perforation in the clamping-piece to indent the specimen upon the screw-support, a Weight attached to the. ball-holder, and means for raising the Weight and ball-holder to a standard height andidropping them upon the specimen.

6. An apparatus for testing the hardness of metallic specimens, consisting of a rigid support vertically adjustable, a clampingpiece sustained above the said support to clamp the specimen thereto. a rod movable to and from the rigid support and having a standard Weight and a standard ball attached thereto, a lever connected to the rod to lift the said Weight, means for operating the lever to lift the Weight, and a spring to quickly retract the lever when released, to permit the free descent of the Weight.

7. An apparatus for testing the hardness of metallic specimens, consisting of a rigid support vertically adjustable, a clampingpiece sustained above the said support to clamp the specimen thereto, a rod movable to and from the rigid support and having a standard Weight and a standard ball attached thereto, a lever to lift the rod and Weight, a main cam with supplemental face extended beyond the corner of the cam, a.v

roll upon the lever to rest upon the main cam, and a shoulder upon the lever to rest upon the supplemental face after the roll clears the main cam, thus dropping the weight instantly when the supplemental face clears the shoulder.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set m hand. i

y JOSEPH G. AYERS, JR. 

